Weeks after​​ Memphis at UCF was postponed and rescheduled due to Hurricane Irma, two of college football’s most explosive offenses are set to meet Saturday in an American Athletic Conference showdown.

Through two games, UCF is scoring 49.5 points per game, while Memphis is at 43.0, meaning both defensive coordinators will have their hands full this week. Both spoke to The All-American about what they see across the line of scrimmage.

UCF defensive coordinator Erik Chinander sees weapons all over the field for Memphis, starting with veteran quarterback Riley Ferguson.

“Their quarterback is one of the best in the country. He’s a Sunday player,” Chinander said. “He makes good decisions, can make all the throws, and he uses the RPO to his advantage. He’s really good with knowing where he wants to go and what defenders are getting sucked in … The receiver (Anthony Miller) is a really good route runner. Once he gets the ball in his hands, he’s like a running back. He’s dangerous after the catch.”

The Knights will rely on their run defense, which ranks No. 12 in yards per carry allowed (2.79). They had to replace the entire defensive backfield entering the season, so they relied on the experience of four returning starters in the front seven to lead the way, including the full defensive line.

“That was a huge, huge piece for us,” Chinander said. “Obviously, you’d like to have 11 returners, but when you have a front seven that’s experienced and some new back guys, that’s where you want to be. It helped that we knew we could defend the run with those characters and let those guys in the back sort out the pass and not give them too much on their plate.”

The other thing Chinander wants: turnovers. The Knights have six takeaways in two games, including a pick-six in last week’s 38-10 win at Maryland. Memphis has only three turnovers in three games.

“We’ve love to hold guys to under 200 yards, but I don’t talk to the guys much about yards per game,” Chinander said, “because with a spread offense, it’s hard it put a number on that, so we really stress getting takeaways.”

Memphis will actually be traveling to Orlando for the second time in three weeks. And this time they’ll actually play a game. The Tigers arrived in Orlando ahead of their Sept. 8 game at UCF, only to immediately fly home upon the game’s postponement.

“We got on the plane and got down there. The minute we landed, it came up on Twitter that we were the only school playing in the state of Florida,” Memphis defensive coordinator Chris Ball told The All-American. “We pretty much assumed it was going to get canceled. We made a couple calls, it was, and we flew back home.”

“They’ll show you a lot of different looks and ways to attack you, and that makes you more nervous than anything,” Ball said.

The Memphis defense has also been bitten by the injury bug. Head coach Mike Norvell raved in camp about getting linebacker Jackson Dillon back after missing last season. But Dillon suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in this year’s opener. Other injuries have piled up, and Norvell announced Tuesday that safety Shaun Rupert would miss a significant amount of time.

That’s a big loss against a quarterback like Milton, who is completing 67 percent of his passes and averaging 10.5 yards per attempt, with five touchdowns. UCF is averaging six plays of at least 20 yards per game, compared to 2.7 per game last year.

“He’s definitely elevated his game,” Norvell said of Milton on this week’s AAC coaches teleconference. “He’s got one of the quickest releases you’ll see as a quarterback. You can see the confidence in the schemes he’s asked to run. It’s suited well for his skillset. He can extend plays and throw it all over the field. You have to account for him every single play.”

New Mexico State turning the corner?

The last time New Mexico State started 2-2 with all four games against FBS opponents was 1998. The last time they started at least 2-2, period, was 2014. So the beginning of the 2017 season is a positive one for the Aggies.

They’re 2-2 with wins against rivals New Mexico and UTEP, a six-point loss to Arizona State and a three-point loss to Troy. After going 10-38 in his first four seasons, head coach Doug Martin believes they’ve turned a corner.

“The biggest difference is the recruiting we’ve done is starting to take hold,” Martin told The All-American. “We build the program on recruiting high school kids, so it was going to take longer. This is the first year we don’t have true freshmen playing. Everyone playing has experience, and it’s a team and strategy we had to build a program. It’s starting to mature.”

Receiver Jaleel Scott has 26 catches for 369 yards and four touchdowns to lead the team, and the Aggies’ 6.21 yards per play is No. 38 nationally, up from No. 86 last year.

New Mexico State QB Tyler Rogers is fifth in the FBS at 353.3 passing yards per game. (Matt Kartozian / USA TODAY Sports)

But something hanging over Martin and the program is his contract, which expires on Dec. 31. After last week’s win against UTEP, the Las Cruces Sun-News first reported the sides are working on an extension. (Update: On Thursday, NMSU announced a new three-year contract for Martin.)

“I haven’t seen anything, yet,” Martin said. “I know there are talks going on and things are hopefully getting done for the betterment of the program and so we can recruit. Our recruiting the last two years has been slowed.”

The Aggies have zero committed recruits for the class of 2018, and the early signing period is coming. Martin’s contract status and the school’s exploration into FCS two years ago with their pending departure from the Sun Belt really hurt. But he hopes a new contract and FBS independence, paired with this year’s start, will keep things on track.

“The FCS thing was an absolute recruiting killer,” he said. “We’ve had to battle that ever since that came out. All of our competitors use it against us. The independent thing is a benefit for us in recruiting. We can schedule better and geographically, so their families can see them more.”

Tulsa not off to golden start

Coming off a 10-win season last year, there were high expectations for Tulsa this season. Philip Montgomery led our list of Group of Five coaches primed to land a bigger job. But after two consecutive losses on the final play of the game, the Golden Hurricane sit at 1-3.

Two week ago, they led Toledo 28-7 but lost 54-51 on a field goal as time expired. Last week, they never led New Mexico and lost 16-13 on another field goal as time expired.

“We’ve just got to get over that hump,” Montgomery said on the AAC coaches teleconference. “We’ve got a lot of young guys playing and fighting the injury bug. But when we step on the field, we have to find a way to win.”

A year ago, Tulsa was first team in FBS history with a 3,000-yard passer, two 1,000-yard rushers and two 1,000-yard receivers. But only running back D’Angelo Brewer returned from that group, and he leads the nation with 114 carries. Quarterback Chad President has just one touchdown pass and only a 55-percent completion rate. Tulsa’s defense is also dead last nationally at 8.5 yards per play allowed.

“Any time you’re 1-3, there are things you’ve got to fix,” Montgomery said. “Is it one play, is it the last-second field goal? No. There are a ton of plays during the game that could make that outcome different. You’ve got an opportunity to make those plays, you’ve got to make them.

“Maybe the first play of the game, maybe the second quarter, third, maybe the last drive. There are always plays to be made. We’ve got to make more of them and push us over the edge.”

My Group of Five Power Rankings

Though I rank all 130 FBS teams, I will now include a G5-only power rankings each week.

San Diego State (3-0) — With two wins against Pac-12 teams and a storm-drenched win at Air Force, the Aztecs are in the pole position for the Group of Five spot in the New Year’s Six.

Memphis (3-0) — The Tigers beat UCLA at home two weeks ago and have one of the most explosive offenses in the country. The top spot in the AAC is on the line this week.

USF (4-0) — The Bulls haven’t lost, and three games have been blowouts. It’s weird to say they haven’t looked good, but the ceiling for this team is a lot higher than it has been playing, and that’s a good thing.

UCF (2-0) — If the Knights follow a win at Maryland with a win agaisnt Memphis, they will be pushing for the top spot on this list.

SMU (3-1) — The Mustangs followed a battle against TCU with a 44-21 win at Arkansas State. SMU might be for real, as Chad Morris predicted before the season.

Boise State (2-2) — The Broncos of old are gone, and fans aren’t happy, but this is still a team that can win the Mountain West.

Houston (2-1) — After the Cougars fell short against Texas Tech at home, is there a quarterback controversy with Kyle Allen and Kyle Postma, considering Allen’s turnover problems?

Toledo (3-1) — The Rockets led Miami (Fla.) at halftime, before the Hurricanes pulled away in the second half. The comeback win against Tulsa isn’t as impressive after Tulsa lost to New Mexico.

Arkansas State (1-2) — The Red Wolves have a losing record and are coming off a blowout loss at SMU, but they did take Nebraska to the wire in Lincoln. They will need to turn things around in conference play to stay on this list.

Just outside: Western Michigan, UTSA, Colorado State.

(Top photo: Justin Ford and Kim Klement, USA TODAY Sports)

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Chris Vannini covers the Group of Five conferences, college football coaching and national college football for The Athletic. He previously was managing editor of CoachingSearch.com. Follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisVannini.